Words Hurt
by Shadystar
Summary: Robin and the Team hijack a mission from the League after hacking into the JLA's mission alert system. Eventually someone learns the hard way to be more cautious about what they say, particularly around a certain young bird. Some Daddy!bats at the end.
1. Chapter 1: Hack and Hijack

**So, I was thinking the other day (warning: thinking is very dangerous, don't try it at home!) about sayings and how we tend to say things out of habit. Then I also started thinking a little bit about Robin's history/heritage and noticed that while I have read many stories that talked about his past there is one thing that I haven't really seen mentioned, so I decided to do it myself. This is a one shot, so the story is complete- it actually came out a lot longer than I thought it would.**

**Disclaimer: I do not claim to own YJ or anything related to Batman or anything in the DC universe.**

**Please Read, Review, and Enjoy.**

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Chapter 1: Hack and Hijack

Batman hasn't assigned any missions to the young team of protégés for almost 3 weeks. The Team's residential computer genius, Robin, hacked into the League's alert system to get a heads up on the next alert before the League does. It worked like a charm, within hours the Team got an alert in Gotham. Dick knew that Bruce was out of town for a business meeting and was already familiar with Gotham, so he figured this would be a perfect assignment for the Team to hijack. What was even more perfect was that Aqualad was out helping Aquaman, which meant that Robin would be the leader in this mission.

The mission was at the headquarters of an insurance company in downtown Gotham; the Joker was holding the staff hostage. Apparently he had a score to settle with the insurance company's president, who he has filed multiple complaints to regarding the mental health coverage policies, all of which have seemed to have gone ignored. The Joker plans on holding everyone hostage until he could speak to the president face-to-face, unfortunately he picked a bad time to do this as the president was only on day 3 of a 2 week long cruise. The Joker threatened that if he didn't speak to the president within 24 hours, he would gas the whole office with a planted bomb containing enough lethal Joker venom to spread throughout the 3 story office building. Fortunately, the other office suites were separated and the people in the other suites were able to escape safely.

The Team arrived in Gotham within seconds via Zeta Tube. Robin hacked into the building's security footage with his holographic computer, which reviled a clip of the Joker using non-lethal Joker venom to incapacitate the hostages so he could tie them up and stuff them into a supply closet. Robin then brought up a digital blueprint of the building.

"Miss M, establish a mental link." The youngest member requested.

'Done.' Miss Martian confirmed mentally.

'How are we supposed to get inside without anyone noticing?' Artemis asked.

'Yeah, the place is on lock-down and the cops have the entrance surrounded.' Superboy chimed in.

'According to the blueprints, there's an outside vent on the other side that we can use to get in.' Robin informed the Team. 'Everyone, follow me.'

They ran to the other side of the building. Robin opened the vent, which was a bit narrower than some of the vents they had worked with before; but still considerably roomy for the lean Boy Wonder. Robin army crawled his way into the vent and was followed by Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Artemis; in that order. The line leader kept his holographic computer open for directions.

'Robin, slow down.' Superboy complained 'I know vents are kind of your thing, but some of us have a harder time squeezing through tight spaces.' Conner said, referring to his large muscular build.

'Tell me about it.' Artemis chimed in, 'These hips were definitely not made for fitting into tight, cramped spaces.'

'So what exactly were your hips made for?' Kid Flash couldn't help but comment.

'Wally!' Everyone mentally reprimanded in unison at the perverted comment of the gingered speedster.

'What?' Wally asked, as if he were innocent.

'Alright everyone, enough.' Robin said. 'We'll scold Wally for his innuendos later. Right now, we need to concentrate.'

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A few moments later, they found themselves at their desired location. Robin looked up and saw the last few hostages being tied up and shoved into a closet by the Joker. When he finished, Joker strolled into the manager's office to get back on the phone to negotiate with Commissioner Jim Gordon.

Robin used this time to fill in the rest of the Team.

'Alright, team: We have approximately 67 hostages they all appear to be unconscious from non-lethal Joker venom. They need medical attention soon or they may slip into permanent comas. We need to relocate all of the hostages safely, as well as locate the bomb to disarm it. KF and I will exit the vent in an empty room to start searching for the bomb. The rest of you try to relocate the hostages; but first wait until we can make sure the coast is clear before we can safely try to get all of the hostages out.' Robin ordered before heading over to the next room to see if Joker was distracted enough to start the plan.

"I don't care if the captain doesn't want to waste fuel for one passenger!" The Joker shouted. "If I don't see the company's president, in person, within the next 23 hours, hundreds of lives will be on her hands!" He paused to listen to the Commissioner's response before retorting: "For the last time, I don't want to use Skype or facetime! What part of 'in person' do you not understand?" Just then he looked down and something in the floor vent caught his eye. "Remember: 23 hours, Commissioner. And don't call me back until you have some good news." The Joker hung up the phone as he got up and walked to the other side of the room.

The Team tried to remain as quiet as possible when the Joker hung up the phone. Suddenly, the Joker lifted up the vent cover and grabbed inside to pull out the Boy Wonder by the collar of his shirt; thus, suspending the petite boy in mid-air to look him in the face.

"Well, well, well… The Boy Blunder himself." The Joker said with an evil grin on his face. "Let me guess, old Daddy-Bats is still under the vents?"

"Not quite." Robin said with a smirk, before mentally communicating 'I need back up, now!'.

The rest of the Team came out one by one from the vents. Kid Flash rushed to grab Robin from the Joker's clutches and the Team lined up across from the Joker.

"Well, if it isn't The Justice League's little sidekicks." Joker chuckled.

"We're not sidekicks!" The whole team shouted in unison, which only brought a wider smirk to the Joker's face.

"Hit a sore spot, did I?" The Joker chuckled as the teens glared at him, with the exception of Conner who rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm a bit offended as well. You see, I'm offended that Batman and the real Justice League sent the 'Junior Justice League' instead of coming here themselves. In fact, I feel a bit gypped."

'Uh-oh.' Kid Flash said mentally, no one else understood what the big deal was; they were used to hearing this stuff from their mentor's adversaries before.

"What did you say?" Robin asked out loud in a serious tone, as his face fell into a scowl.

"That's the problem with teenagers these days; they never listen the first time." The Joker muttered under his breath whilr shaking his head, before raising his voice louder. "I said that I've been gypped because the Justice League sent the junior squad instead of coming here to take me on themselves."

'Robin…?' Kid Flash thought, hoping his best friend would remain calm.

'New plan: on the count of 3 everyone back in the vents.' Robin instructed, 'I need Kid Flash and Superboy to get the hostages out. Artemis and Miss Martian: look for the bomb and deactivate it with this." The Boy Wonder pulled out a small flat magnetic device from his utility belt and sneakily handed it to the archer beside him. "I'll distract the Joker. Once you guys get the bomb deactivated, contact me.'

'Robin, are you sure?' The Martian asked 'What if he-'

'Yes, I'm sure.' Robin interrupted the green girl 'And that's an order.'

"What, no witty back talk from the Brat Brigade?" The Joker teased unaware of their mental conversation.

'1, 2, 3.' Robin said as he quickly grabbed a smoke pellet from his utility belt and hit it against the floor as a distraction. With that,everyone followed the instructions while The Boy Wonder let loose his infamous ninja cackle.


	2. Chapter 2: Distractions

**Disclaimer: I'm not very good at writing action, I mostly like writing dialogue and romance (but romance doesn't fit into this story). Both characters are known for being witty so I tried to emulate that and tried to fit in some action, hope you like it.**

**P.S. I'm sure you already know by now that I don't own the characters or anything else related to YJ/Batman.**

**Please Read, review, and enjoy.**

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Chapter 2: Distractions

Once the smoke cleared, the Joker saw the group of teens had disappeared.

"It's such a shame, young heroes these days are such cowards." The Joker said out loud to himself.

"It's a shame everyone has little faith in today's youth." A familiar young voice said from behind him.

When the Joker looked behind him, he saw Robin swirling around in the chair behind the desk, with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Oh, dear Robin. Of course you're the obvious exception." The Joker patronized, "But that team of yours has little valor to abandon their youngest teammate at a time like this."

"They have their reasons.' Robin said stalling. "Virtuous reasons at that."

"Poor delusional boy, obviously Batman hasn't taught you about friendship." The Joker said, with mock sympathy in his voice. "Well, allow me. Real friends don't ditch you and real friends don't leave their friends alone in the hands of someone who has almost killed said friend on several occasions."

"Seems like you know a lot about a subject you have no experience in." Robin taunted.

"I'll have you know that I have plenty of friends, you little brat." The Joker said angrily before he started pacing around the office and ranting on about his list of friends, almost as if he were trying to prove to Robin he had friends.

'Robin, we've found the bomb and placed the magnet on it.' Artemis said over the mental link a few minutes into the jokers rant.

'Good. Now I need you both to help KF and Superboy with the hostages.' Robin reasoned. 'Also, Miss M, I need you to cut me off from the mental link.'

'What?' M'gann asked worried for the teammate she saw as a younger brother. 'Robin, that's not safe. What if you need back up?'

'I can handle this, besides this is a battle I need to fight on my own.' The young leader insisted. 'Robin out.'

Robin pressed a few buttons on his computerized sleeve to activate the tech scrambler on the bomb.

"Are you even paying attention?" The Joker said as he saw Robin fiddling with his glove under the desk.

"My mistake, you do have a lot of friends." Robin finally said aloud. "And since you're such a good sharer, maybe I should share some things about myself with you."

"Well, by all means." The villain played along.

"You see, there are things about me that are obvious: Batman's protégé, expert at hand-to-hand combat, master of acrobatics and computer hacking." The Boy Wonder almost boasted as he stood up from the chair and stared out of the tinted window where he saw the Gotham PD and his friends carrying and leading the hostages out. "But there is one thing that very few people know about me, even the majority of my teammates."

"And what, pray tell, would that be?" The Joker, seeing this as a perfect opportunity, said as he reached for a switchblade from his pocket.

"I come from a long line of people who were misunderstood and discriminated against." Robin said flatly still gazing out the window.

"Oh, come now. I doubt a young Caucasian male in New England faces much racism." The older male said getting closer to the boy as he opened the knife.

"The hurtful things I hear people say isn't because of my skin color and I know it's not always directed at me." The young vigilante stated. "They say thoughtless comments out of old habits."

"Yes, the world can be a cruel and thoughtless place." The Joker assured in a soothing tone, "That's why sometimes it's just better to_disconnect_ yourself from the world." The older man said as he went in for the attack.

The Boy Wonder quickly turned around and counter attacked by grabbing the Joker's wrist and twisting it behind his back, causing the villain to drop his weapon- which Robin confiscated and placed into a compartment in his utility belt.

'That should cover Wally's souvenir.' Robin thought to himself.

At that point, the Joker struggled free from the boy's grip and turned around to face him in a guarded position.

"Well played, Robin." The Joker said in a calm tone. "I must say I should have seen it coming. After all, it is the oldest trick in the book: create a sob story to get your opponent's guard down then wait for an opportunity to attack. Bravo."

"Thanks, but my story was very real." The young vigilante informed the villain. "And neither of us is leaving this building until you apologize."

"Apologize?" The Joker couldn't help but scoff. "Dear boy, I thought you would understand by now that villains don't apologize for attempting to kill their enemies."

"Trust me; I've learned to accept that a long time ago." The teen assured. "I'm talking about your thoughtless comment from earlier."

"Now you're trying to accuse me of being prejudice?" The Joker said. "I'm a lot of things, Wonder Boy; but a bigot, I am _not_. I harm all people equally regardless of: race, nationality, religion, age, gender, orientation, and marital status."

"You may not discriminate directly, but that mouth of yours sure does." Robin said keeping his guard up.

"You're seriously getting bent out of shape over the jokes I made about teenagers?" The painted villain asked.

"Honestly, I'm not a fan of those either; but that's not what I'm talking about." Batman's protégé affirmed.

"Enough with the mind games, Boy Blunder; I'm getting old here." The villain complained as he brought out another switchblade. "You have 10 seconds to cut to the chase… before I cut you."

"Fine, remember earlier what I said about my ancestors being discriminated?" The Boy Wonder asked.

"Yes." The Joker confirmed.

"Well, I come from a family of travelers." Robin explained. "They were treated as second class citizens and thought to be underhanded thieves and tricksters. In many cases, it was believed they used magic to deceive people."

"As interesting as your family origin is..." The Joker said with an evil grin on his face, as he opened the switchblade "Your time is up."

The Joker took a swing at Robin with his knife, Robin dodged it.

"That's the problem with villains these days: so impatient." Robin said sarcastically with a sigh.

"Now who's the one stereotyping?" The Joker implied. "Enough of these circle games and forget the president." Joker said as he reached for his remote to press the button to activate his bomb. "What? There should be an alarm going off. Why isn't this working?!"

"Remember the friends that 'ditched' me?" Robin asked the confused clown. "They found your bomb and put a scrambler on it so that I could deactivate it."

"Ugh! I paid more for the deluxe model. They claimed it was the most reliable on the market." The Joker said angrily. "Those fools! What a gyp."

The Joker attempted another stab at Robin, who at this point jumped on the desk then on top of the tall book case.

"There you go again, making those derogatory comments." Robin shouted from on top of the sturdy book case.

"Enough already; now you're just playing mind games because I never said anything offensive about travelers." The Joker said trying to reach the young teen.

"Like I said, most of the comments people make are indirect." Robin said reaching in his utility belt as he distracted the Joker with his words. "You just said that you we're 'gypped', just like you said earlier."

"So?" The Joker said as he began to attempt to climb up the book case.

"So… You may not know this, but travelers are often referred to as gypsies." The teen informed the older male before he continued. "If you think you got 'gypped' before; just wait until I'm through with you." Robin said as he dropped another smoke tablet on the floor.

The Joker fell to the floor as the smoke clouded his view and he heard Robin's ninja cackle shift around the room.


	3. Chapter 3: Resilience

**Okay, I couldn't help myself. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Daddybats (that explains my other YJ story: Beware The Teenagers)!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. As always, enjoy.**

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**Meanwhile outside:**

"Commissioner, we've finally got a hold of Batman." An officer called out to Commissioner Jim Gordon.

Gordon quickly grabbed the phone.

"Hello." The Commissioner answered.

"Jim?" Batman said on the other line.

Bruce had his phone on speaker while he was driving one of his sports cars, still in civilian clothes, on his way to the Batcave.

"For Pete's sake, Batman; we've been trying to contact you for about 2 hours." The cop claimed.

"I was out of town and for some reason I just now got the alert." The Dark Knight explained. "I'm on my way now. I have the basic information; I just need an update on the situation."

"Well, the good news is that all the hostages have been evacuated safely and the bomb is believed to be disarmed, though we're not taking any chances." The Commissioner informed the Bat.

"So you don't need me then?" The vigilante asked.

"Well, I'm not sure." The commissioner started to say. "The thing is-"

"Hey, is that Batman?" Kid Flash asked Commissioner Gordon.

"Hold on." The Commissioner said into the phone, before covering the voice receiver. "Yes, it's Batman."

"Can I talk to him?" The ginger boy asked.

"No, this line is for official Gotham City PD business." Gordon informed the teen.

"Well, this situation is official Justice League of America business and as leader of the JLA, Batman would want to know the whole story." Kid Flash informed the cop, before he added: "Which I already told you, part of the story is classified information."

"Fine." Jim gave up before handing the phone to the incognito teen.

"Hey, Bats." Wally said into the phone.

"Kid Flash?" The Caped Crusader asked, surprised to hear from The Flash's nephew.

"In the flesh." KF confirmed.

"What are you doing in Gotham City?" The Dark Knight asked.

"Yeah, about that… Funny story." The fastest kid alive said as he looked around and glared at the nearby officers. "Take 5, guys." He commanded as the cops left him alone to talk to The Batman in private. "You know how Robin is good with computers...?" he chuckled nervously, trying to stall.

"Cut to the chase, Wally." Batman commanded, knowing the ginger haired speedster was stalling.

"Well, the thing is... Robin sort of hacked into The Justice League alert system, which lead us here." The young speedster spitted out, he could feel the Batglare he was getting from the other side of the phone.

"So the whole team is in Gotham?" Batman asked, slightly annoyed.

"Well, not Aqualad." Kid Flash pointed out. "He's still helping Aquaman with that pirate mission. The good news is that we got the hostages out and disarmed the bomb."

"No offense, Wally; but why are you telling me this instead of Robin?" The Dark Knight asked.

"Well, that's where things get a little interesting." The ginger stated nervously.

Batman sighed, he didn't like where Wally was going with this.

"You see, we hit a bit of a snag earlier and got caught by the Joker." Wally said. "Robin ordered me and Supey to get the hostages out, while the girls located the bomb."

"And what was Robin's task?" The vigilante inquired.

"To distract the Joker." Kid Flash said reluctantly.

"What?" Bruce blurted out in a harsh tone. "The man has attempted to kill Robin on multiple occasions. Robin knows he's not allowed to face the Joker alone. How could you all leave Robin alone with that madman?"

"It's not like we wanted to, it was Robin's idea; when Aqualad is gone we have a mutual understanding that Robin is the mission leader." The redheaded teen tried to defend his team. "We had another plan ready to go; but after the Joker caught us and said something that got under Robin's skin, the plans changed."

"Wait, what did the Joker say?" The Bat inquired, he had always trained Robin not to react emotionally on missions.

"Well, Joker made it clear that he was disappointed that it was us, instead of you or the Justice League, and he said he felt… 'gypped'." Wally said, as the only person on the Team who knew about Dick's past and heritage.

"How long have they been alone in there?" Bruce asked with a sigh, he knew comments like that irritated Dick.

"A little over an hour." The ginger speedster informed the Bat.

"Have you picked up any useful information on the mental link?" The Dark Knight asked.

"About that…." The younger male said in a worried voice.

"Is Robin injured? Is he alright?" The mentor questioned his friend's nephew/protégé.

"We don't exactly know." The scarlet-haired teen admitted. "Once the girls put the scrambler on the bomb; he ordered Miss Martian to cut his line to the mental link off. I'm guessing so the rest of the Team can't hear his personal thoughts about the matter."

"Of course he did." Batman sighed; if there was one thing he taught Robin, it was keeping the scars of the past hidden. Though, unlike Bruce, Dick usually mastered this skill with the disguise of laughter and joy, rather than an obvious display of brooding and misery. "What's the rest of the Team doing?"

"Talking to reporters." Kid Flash said, "But don't worry, they don't know the whole story. They just think Robin flipped because of the teen and sidekick jokes the Joker was also telling."

"Alright, tell Jim I'm on my way and to be ready to take the Joker back to Arkham." The billionaire hung up the line and searched his contact list before pressing the desired number.

"Your mobile and uniform are ready when you are, Master Bruce." A man with an English accent informed the billionaire on the other line.

"I take it you've seen the news." Bruce stated calmly.

"Indeed." Alfred confirmed.

"Apparently the Joker made a comment that got under Dick's skin." The Billionaire informed his butler. "Kid Flash said the hostages are safe and the bomb is disarmed, so my task is mostly damage control."

"You don't seem very alarmed that Master Richard is alone with the Joker." The butler stated, slightly confused.

"Part of me is terrified about that." Bruce admitted with a hint of concern in his voice. "But given the nature of the comment, I'm worried more about what's going on in his mind. Which reminds me, Alfred: this should take no more than 20 minutes. I'll need you to draw a warm bath for him and get out his special mix CD for tough days."

"Which one, sir?" Alfred inquired.

"The one with the songs about Gypsies." Bruce informed the older gentleman.

"Ah, yes; one of those comments." The older man said before adding. "Though I must admit; I have had a bit of a longing to listen to that one song by Cher lately."

"Of course, it's a classic." Bruce commented, "At least it doesn't get stuck in your head like the one by Shakira does. Also, can you bake some of those cookies Dick likes?"

"Already in the oven, Master Bruce." Alfred announced proudly.

"You're the best, Alfred." Bruce said with a slight grin in his voice. "I'm turning around the corner now; I'll meet you in the Batcave."

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Once in the Batmobile, it only took Batman 3 minutes to reach his designation. The Dark Knight parked a block away from the actual office building to avoid being noticed and entered the building from a back window. Batman searched the rooms, when he opened the 7th door; the Caped Crusader was shocked by what he saw.

"Batman, Help!" The Bat heard the words he was expecting to hear; but not from whom he had expected hear it from. The vigilante saw one of his arch enemies tied up on the floor, soaking wet. "I told him I was sorry several times, but he just won't let me go!" The Joker informed his captor's mentor.

"Because I know you don't really mean it." Robin stated darkly from the other side of the room, holding a water balloon that he was filling up at the office's water cooler.

"Robin, what did I tell you about putting water balloons in your utility belt?" Batman sighed partially in irritation that the boy broke a rule and partially in relief that his adopted son was okay.

"Hey, I told you they come in handy." The protégé claimed as he tied the water balloon close.

"Come on, Robin." The mentor sighed. "You've had your fun, but we need to turn him in already."

"No!" Robin shouted getting ready to throw a fresh water balloon at the Joker. "I'm not done with him, yet!"

The Joker just let out a nervous yelp, not wanting to say anything that would anger the boy more.

"Robin, this isn't you." The vigilante proclaimed.

"You don't understand." Robin mumbled under his breath and staring at the water balloon in his hand, not looking his adoptive father in the eye.

"I know what he said." The Dark Knight declared calmly. "I've told you before, that's not a direct comment on you or your family. It's an old saying that many people use without thinking about what it really means. That doesn't make it right, but you can't always control what others say. However, you can always control how you react to what they say. I've also told you that you can't let your emotions take control on missions or you might wind up getting hurt... or hurting someone else."

The Bat gestured to the tied up villain on the floor who was drenched in water.

"I guess I did get carried away." The younger male admitted, after evaluating the situation around him.

"It happens." Batman said putting a gentle hand on Robin's shoulder and used his other hand to request the water balloon, which the Boy Wonder surrendered to his mentor. "Now, if you're done here, let's turn him in and go home."

Both Batman and Robin exited the building with a damp, tied up Joker. They released him to the police and both made a few quick statements to Commissioner Gordon and the press about the situation, not mentioning the real reasons. Batman excused the other team members to go home and reminded them to report for debriefing tomorrow. Robin said bye to his friends and gave his best friend a little souvenir before the dynamic duo headed to the Batmobile and drove off.

"So since everything worked out, does this mean I'm off the hook?" Robin asked after several moments of silent in the Batmobile.

"For kidnapping and torturing the Joker, yes." Batman stated before adding. "But for hacking into Justice League computers, as well as leading the Team on a hijacked League mission without proper authorization: you're grounded from midnight patrols for 2 weeks and you're off the Team for a week."

"I guess that's fair." Robin agreed with a sigh. 'Still worth it.' Dick thought to himself mentally.

**The End**

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**Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think.**


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